The Pros And Cons Of Coal

Intro -Fade In
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”(un).
Coal; a topic now more than ever that seems to be in the news and media.
It seemed the final nail had been struck in the coffin for coal when the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement was made and for good reason our world was at a breaking point. Coal has been proven time and time again to be a cancer to the environment. From the erosion and destruction of forests caused by mountaintop removal or the coal run off from underground mines contaminating the local water supply (sourcewatch). There is no denying coal is destroying our planet and the people who live on it.Coal is estimated to cost 74.6 billion in public health burden a year (sourcewatch). Yet in a state
With the inventions of newer transportation such as automobiles and airplanes, this ed to the mass consumption of petroleum. With the boom of the oil industry, soon people switched to oil as a way to heat their homes and generate electricity, causing oil to surpass coal in the mid 19th century (mhiglobal).Along with advancements in technology, came newer, cleaner sources of energy and as the world became more conscious of the effects of global warming, coal became less
Yet only time will tell if he truly will revitalize coal. He has put the image of “energy independence” in the mind of hopeful families and miners, yet what does that really look like? Potentially scraping EPA regulations that extend to the Clean Water Act, putting clean drinking water in danger (nationalgeographic).Even if the coal industry is restored it still will have to compete with natural gas. Hydraulic fracking has not only reduced the need for coal but is cheaper and easier to obtain than coal (sourcewatch). The decline of coal has more disastrous effects than just West Virginia, it affects the whole country. With power and coal plants shutting down, this puts more and more stress on the nation's power grid causing the power grid to be vulnerable to cyber attacks.An attack would leave everything from ATMs to cell phones useless and could be deadly if health care systems depleate their back up energy sources (usatoday).Some politcians suggest bringing in new energy to replace the lost coal jobs but what about the 16,000 retired coal miners who are losing their benefits as more coal companies file for bankrupcy (NPR).Bills such as the Miners protection Act are in the process of being passed to protect retirees and miners if mines do close, yet this a mearly a band aid to a much bigger problem